Dream Bowl was a rural roadhouse & dancehall (beyond the clutch of town permits). It was in Napa County just south of Napa (not actually in Vallejo or Solano County, as often listed). On the second night they just happened to lay down one of the era's stronger shows - though that's not so strange if you see a list of the greats that played here. The SBD and the official release have different cuts. The SBD is more complete, but the OFF sounds better.

First Set. The beginning of Dupree's is cut on the SBD. The mix is still funky, and not all instruments are present. Mountains of the Moon is the 5th one; dry, not the greatest example. Jer trades acoustic for electric as Dark Star winds up. It's great, but the best sections are interchangeable with others from the immediate era. Better is this TifTOO suite. At The Other One it enters a tempest in a dream (bowl). The second Cryptical is inexplicably edited on the OFF: 3mins12secs are cut @5:54. A pat Death Don't has a reel flip in all copies @2:50, missing some of the best part. The OFF bridges this by inserting 20secs from 2/28 (though the cut back is still abrupt).

Second Set. The first 42secs of Doin' That Rag are cut on the SBD. This is a must-own version. The Stephen into The Eleven is hotter than soup. There was a tape deceleration here. Stephen plays too fast on all sources, needing -2% pitch correction. At ~40secs you can hear it slow (needing -1% from there). At 7: 09 of The Eleven [in the OFF, or @9:10 in the SBD] it slows back to normal for the rest of the show (0%). The OFF could have easily corrected this. The Eleven is one of the longest (though don't expect it to vary much from the era). Phil finally launches Lovelight, which doesn't really go anywhere (the OFF removes 28secs @8:12).

1st Set:  B-
2nd Set: A-
Overall = 4 stars

Highlights:
The Other One - tempest in a dream bowl
Doin' That Rag>St. Stephen>The Eleven - paragon sequence

SOURCES: The owen_7860 runs fast. Better is the remastered miller_112691 (switch the channels). Most of the show is on 30 Trips. Both have a pitch issue section, but have different cuts. Doin' That Rag is on Definitive Live Story.

Great recording as well. This is as good as it gets

Bravo! (Doin' That Rag featured on the 30 trips definitive live story.)

Every tune here at the zenith of performance
and dripping psychedelic.

Stellar dead!!!

apparently Phil Lesh and friends duplicated the setlist of 2/22/69, plus great choices for the encore. Can't wait to see the 1970 celebration tonight in the Grate Room. I hope for a great acoustic run of tunes in the mix. Very excited about this!

Not the furthest out versions of any of these tunes but really solidly played and inspired. The Eleven, in particular, really shines with Bobby and the rest of the band keeping the momentum going whenever Jerry pauses between phrases (an amazingly infrequent occurrence).

Great dark star despite a little lyrical flub. Jerry's playing and tone are awesome. is this when he played a Gibsons SG? anyway all around trippy and good.

wow. i have been watching youtube 72-78 lately and have forgotten how good they were in 69. jerry's guitar sounds soooooo good...3.54 stars????...i do not think so. at worst 4.99879 stars....even the muffled recording on archive is great but Dick>Charlie has given us a gem

"won't you people
get off your butt and
do something righteous
find a little girl
get next to each other
reach over your shoulder
touch somebody
ain't no way to slow down now
get your hands out of your pocket
momma told me that would make you crazy..."Pig!

11 ,2 much 4 wordz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW

Great recording as well.

To say that this is a top ten show of '69 means that it is a top ten show of all time, imho.

Talk all you want about a '70-this show or an '80-that show, but come on! This was five nights before they played the Dark Star/St. Stephen and one month after the Eleven and Lovelight on Live/Dead. Five billion stars.

Oh my,
Wonderful show ,perfect set list and Charlie Millers magic with the sound! I'll never understand why Mountains of the Moon was dropped after so few preformances, an anglo-irish folk ballad on acid Garcia knew he and Humter had created a gem .I am sure in some realm of a higher reality Tom Banjo and the Marsh Queens Daughter are together.
thanks to Charlie and everyone else that enrichs our lifes with these gifts!

A lot is being said about the sound quality being improved. This version is the first I ever heard so I have nothing to compare it to. Working my way through the Dead Archive and well...to me the Dead is like wine...I know what I like and it gets better with age and this is a great harvest from a vintage year. It is simple yet bold, and has a strong finish. I give it 3.54 stars.

A smoking hot show with great fidelity. A must listen show.

I don't know how many times I can thank you, Charlie....

This is perfect "coming down on a Sunday morning" music... The last tape of the night/morning....

Fantastic stuff.

Mr Miller has done it again-this recording is avast improvement previous archive versions. Thank you Charlie for making this version come alive again.

Whoo Hoo, this is an amazing recording! thanks to ALL involved in making this recording sound so clear and dynamic!

Had this recording for years. So happy for the upgrade.

Jam between Mountains into Dark Star is haunting and given new resonance with this transfer.

Primal Dead, obviously. Definitely one of the top 10 of 1969. Just as good imho as the famed Fillmore West run a week later.

100 points!

much, much thanks to Charlie Miller for this amazing upgrade! the sound on this show is infinitely improved, there is virtually no hiss, wonderfully clear instrument separation, and even Phil's annoying bass distortion during Dark Star has been removed. if this isn't one of the best of '69 already, it sure is now...

What a fantastic recording! The Dark Star is one of my favorites from any year. I am so grateful to be able to listen to this crisp clean version. Thank you to all involved.

This newly sourced remaster is a tremendous improvement over the Owen Brothers and Matt Vernon transfers of this amazing performance, both of which were quite muddy sounding.

Crystal clear and brilliant (just listen to the pristine Mountains of the Moon), this upgraded source is most welcomed and has transformed what was once a rather dull recording of an epic performance, into a top-ten show of 1969. (99 pts)